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Going into next month’s Winter Meetings, the St. Louis Cardinals have many questions to answer. How will Willson Contreras fit at first base for the departed Paul Goldschmidt? What trade packages are available for Ryan Helsley? Nolan Arenado?
One question that will be asked will be about the starting rotation for 2025. Sonny Gray has stated that he’s open to staying with the Cardinals. Andre Pallante impressed this season after moving into a starter spot. However, Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson will not return next year, Steven Matz has failed to register an entirely healthy season in St. Louis, and Miles Mikolas has no business being in the 2025 rotation.
This brings me to José Quintana. Fox Sports MLB writer Deesha Thosar listed left-handed starting pitching as one of the needs for the Cardinals next year. After listing Blake Snell, who’s now a Dodger, and Max Fried as options, Thosar mentioned Quintana as a second-tier option for the Cardinals.
If you remember, Quintana came to St. Louis in 2022 from the Pittsburgh Pirates with relief pitcher Chris Stratton in exchange for Johan Oviedo and minor leaguer Malcom Nuñez. The deal worked out well in the short term, as Quintana went 3-2 with a 2.01 ERA in 12 starts. In addition, he started Game 1 of the 2022 NLDS against Philadelphia.
Quintana left the Cardinals after that season and signed a two-year, $26 million deal with the New York Mets. Despite a rough first year due to injury, Quintana rebounded with 170.1 innings pitched last year and accumulated 2.5 bWAR at age 35. Regarding their rotation, Alex Smith of SNY also argues that the Mets should bring back Quintana.
With the Cardinals planning to reduce payroll for 2025, the front office will likely not go after bigger-name free agents. Therefore, a veteran like Quintana makes sense. He gives the Cardinals a left-handed starter and his contract will not cost much compared to other free agents in the market. In addition, Quintana's2.5 bWAR with the Mets was higher than any Cardinals starting pitcher last season.